The present invention relates to electronic flight instrument systems and more particularly relates to display devices showing energy management circles (EMCs), and even more particularly concerns an improved apparatus and method for displaying high quality energy management circles on electronic flight instrument systems (EFIS).
In today's aviation industry, it is desirable for aircraft owners and operators to minimize fuel consumption whenever possible. In the past, energy management circles have been proposed to assist pilots in performing economical aircraft descents. These energy management circles have also been proposed for providing pilots with crucial information regarding landing decisions.
While these energy management circles have been appreciated as sources of valuable flight information, there has existed some serious drawbacks in their implementation. Typically, the energy management circles have been annoying to pilots, due to the excessive "ratcheting" of the circles as they move across the display.
Consequently there exists a need for an improved method and apparatus for displaying energy management circles on EFIS displays which result in improved display characteristics.